Some modern domestic kitchens include a gas cooktop as either a countertop mounted cooktop or as a part of a standalone range.
Some domestic cooktops have one or more control knobs that control the amount of gas that is piped to specific gas burners of the cooktop. Some cooktops have a top sheet that is formed from, for example, a piece of sheet steel. The burners protrude through the top sheet such that the heating flames of the burners exist above the top sheet. In some of these cooktops, primary combustion air is drawn from a space below the top sheet and mixed with gas before being ignited. In some cases, the primary combustion air enters the space below the top sheet through holes in the top sheet that exist around shafts of the control knobs.
In some domestic cooktops, the proximity of a control knob to a burner can result in the temperature of the control knob rising above an ideal level.
Applicants recognized this problem and developed a solution as described herein. Applicants also recognized that a control knob that is relatively close to an active burner can be heated by the air drawn through the hole in the top sheet because that air is heated by the burner.